Over the years of playing and teaching guitar, I have noticed that the number one reason people keep failing is a lack of motivation. Motivation keeps you going when the playing gets tough.
Motivation gives you the energy to play when life is busy, and your guitar falls to the wayside. Motivation helps you force yourself to sit down and practice the nitty-gritty exercises that aren’t as much fun, but they’re vital for improving your skills.
So how do we increase and maintain our motivation? Well, there are many different ways, but there’s one simple thing to keep it up.
Make and follow a plan.
Seems too simple, right? Well, having a plan helps in many ways:
- Keeps your eyes on the prize
- Tells you what comes next
- Gives you ideas on how to improve
- Takes the burden of planning your practice off of your hands
As a guitar teacher, I know one of the most important things I do is tell my students what to practice next. If I leave them to their own devices, they just won’t practice. And to be honest, I fall into this trap, too, even after decades of playing. If I have a plan for what I need to practice, my sessions are more productive, and I learn faster.
So how do we make a plan for learning guitar? Let me offer one piece of advice for new players and, to a smaller extent, advanced ones:
Follow an expert’s plan.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Learning guitar is rewarding, but it’s also challenging. Why stress yourself out by trying to figure out how to learn it on your own. Now, be careful whose plan you follow, too.
Many people have their own plans, but these people aren’t true experts or teachers. Often, their plans are more like lists of favorite exercises or lessons on specific songs. This won’t help you in the long run. So where do you go?
You could always find a private teacher. This is a great way to learn, but many feel uncomfortable learning one-on-one with someone in my experience. It’s also way more expensive. I say this even as a private guitar teacher.
What’s the solution? Back in the day (way back in the day), I would recommend getting a great guitar book, video course, and lesson teacher. Now, I recommend an online learning course like JamPlay. Why? JamPlay is everything you need all rolled into one.
Though the massive lesson list and experienced teachers are great, the helpful and well-planned courses are the best thing for players’ motivation. And, as I said before, motivation is a must-have for sticking with guitar and getting better.
Check out Jam Play’s online guitar lessons.
I’ve reviewed a lot of online guitar courses for my students and myself, and there are a lot of great ones out there. But none come close to the high-quality overall courses and tools that JamPlay does. Check it out for yourself for free at the link above.
Keep on keeping on!
